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Topic: Drinking Only Homebrews (Read 4034 times)

When did you start drinking all home brews (or the vast majority of your beer intake)? I'm curious how many of you can replicate recipes you like enough to only drink them. I still find myself only wanting a handful of commercial beers that I like far more than my home brews at this point.

*It's hard to enjoy my meager home brews when I can get these that were canned a couple of weeks ago.

I have beer drinkers ADD - I drink my beers plenty, but I like to sample good beer from brewpubs and beer bars as well. My brewing doesn't take away my interest in fresh quality beers nearby. It's nice to get out of the house, no ?

I like sours a lot, but don't have much at home, so as to that style, I have to buy for now as I ease into a Solara project for blending. As to most other styles, I brew a lot of lagers, so I don't drink a ton of commercial lager beers, but I'm not a snob about commercial beer. I rarely make IPA's, other than Denny's RIPA that I make for a friend and keep a few, so those are a commercial style that I will drink when I get a hankering for it. But mostly I drink homebrew when I can and if I have a choice.....

This year. So far have stuck to it but with me as a customer you had better keep up production...

Took the opportunity on my trip to sample some beers and they were all a treat. I allow that and will buy the hard stuff- such as wine and spirits. Otherwise commercial beer is of little interest to me. I just phased it out over time.

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I have found myself brewing less American, British, and Scottish styles, since I can drink fresh craft brewed ales at almost every pub and taproom I brew and drink lots of lagers and Belgians, as where I live, finding good versions of those on tap is difficult.

I don't ever see myself ever drinking only home brew, as I like going to bars too much. I do find myself going less and less to the fine beer store, though, and very rarely ever get a growler filled.

90% percent has been home brew for the last few years but I'm in a brewing rut so I have bought beer recently. I do buy some lagers for the cottage in the summer because I don't do lager well and it's hard to take home brew

When did you start drinking all home brews (or the vast majority of your beer intake)? I'm curious how many of you can replicate recipes you like enough to only drink them. I still find myself only wanting a handful of commercial beers that I like far more than my home brews at this point.

Only a quarter or so of the beer I drink is homebrew. My biggest trouble is that on my bike ride home from Downtown Seattle to West Seattle I directly pass (Pike, Elysian, Pyramid, Epic Ales, and Schooner Exact) and within another 15 minutes or less I can easily hit up (Seapine, Emerald City, Machine House, Georgetown, Lowercase, Burdick, Tin Dog, West Seattle, Elliot Bay and Big Al's) Yes, we in Seattle are lucky. I didn't even include the other 10 or so breweries in Ballard and Fremont which are just on the other end of town. I enjoy trying new beers and supporting local businesses more than I can possibly keep up with an adequate homebrew supply alternative. As a result of all this local beer, I tend to brew beers that they don't offer as much (milds, double IPA's, oaked beers, cream ales, kolsch's, flavored stouts, alts etc.)

I've been drinking homebrew at least 95% of the time for the last 10 years or so. When I was first starting out I bought a lot of commercial beer to get a feel for different styles. Every once in a while I'll pick up a seasonal like Celebration Ale, or maybe a sixer on a whim. But overall, I enjoy brewing and drinking my own beer so much that it's not hard to pass it up. A couple commercial sixpacks, or a batch of homebrew? The cost is about the same for me and that's often the main motivation. If my beer was crap I'd whistle a different tune, but it seems that each batch is better than the last, and there are always 5 more styles I'd like to brew waiting in the wings.

At home I drink about 90% Homebrew, but I enjoy a good craft beer when I'm out places. I feel it's important for my home-brewing to taste a wide variety of non-home-brewed beer. Gives me a sense if where I'm at and where I want to be/go.

I only buy beer at the store if I am attempting a clone. Other than that I go to the local brew pub once a week and Old Chicago once a week. I try 2 beers at each place. At home I pretty much drink nothing but my own beer.

I got to where I rarely drank commercial beers and almost always found I preferred my beers to most of what I could buy in the store. I still very rarely buy beer unless I'm at a pub. I have 4 taps in my pub room that are always pouring my beer.

There are still some sublime styles I must have - Orval, for instance. And I am always looking for beers I have not tried before. But 95% of the time I drink beers I have made.

Once you get the hang of the craft you will find it pretty easy to dial in recipes. Sure, there will be some drift here and there but you should be able to get dialed in where your beer is as good or better than what you can buy in the store. For me the key is freshness. You simply can't buy beer fresher than you can make yourself.

I'm probably about 50-50. With breweries opening up what seem like every day and new bottles shops getting closer and closer to my house, there are just too many commercial styles to just drink homebrew.